Kaitlin DeForest '26 didn't know how to begin to dig her car out of the snow on Monday. This was a problem for the president.
DeForest gave herself a $30 budget to spend at SEB's annual charity auction in November. There were a few items that sounded interesting, but she didn't really get caught up in the frenzy until one particular item went up for bid: a voucher good for one presidential snow removal.
"They announced the shoveling out a car voucher from President Chuck and a bunch of people stood up," said DeForest. "They started increasing the amount and people started slowly sitting down. The bid got my max, $30, and I looked around, and I was the last one standing! After that, I just needed a major snow fall so I could cash it in."
Her wish came true – about 16 inches worth – last Sunday into Monday. So on Sunday night, DeForest emailed the president's office and President Seifert happily agreed to shovel out her car at 5:00 p.m. Monday evening. But...
"I called my boyfriend to see if he'd want to come help or at least watch Chuck shovel out my car. Little did I know, he had already shoveled out my car as a surprise. I was so happy he cleared my car for me, but now I had no car for Chuck to shovel out! So, since my boyfriend's car hadn't been cleared off yet, I asked if it was okay to cash in the voucher on his car."
That was perfectly fine by Chuck.
"He came right on time and we had some great chats as we hauled the snow out from the sides and off the top of the car. He talked about how he likes auctioning his time because it gives him an excuse to spend time with students and learn more about their lives. My favorite part for sure was when Chuck was busy clearing off the snow from the car, he said "Wow, look at you go!" because I had cleared the spot out completely in very little time. It was so fun to hear him and talk to him as a normal person and not just the president of the University!"